Belmont locals establish free community garden

Belmont resident Cynthia Hegler purchased a plot of land at 310 Todd St. with the intention of building a house.

For several reasons, Hegler found that she could not build that house, but in the process of trying, she realized there was an opportunity to build community.

“As I was working in the neighborhood, the neighbors were just sharing funny stories and how they like to garden. They said sometimes that their produce came up missing,” Hegler said. “We’re like, oh, if there’s not enough produce in the neighborhood, we’ll just use this lot that was otherwise unusable and build a garden and open it up to our whole entire community.”

With the help of neighbors and friends like Jena Hare, Belmont resident and owner of NC Budo - Belmont Karate, the group prepared The Giving Garden in time for spring.

Volunteers recently finished planting a variety of produce in the garden including potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, herbs, berries, and even flowers that visitors can cut and take home with them among other things.

The Giving Garden is a free standing non-profit organization, which means the produce, herbs and flowers grown in the garden are free and available to anyone interested in taking them.

It also means the organization is looking for volunteers or donations to help keep the garden going.

Currently, neighbors, friends and students at Hare’s karate studio are working to prep the garden for the growing season.

Hare’s students have grown many of the vegetables from seedlings at their facility, and other volunteers have helped plant seeds directly in the ground.

“Our afterschoolers and summer campers are using this as a volunteer project which builds some good work ethic with our kids, but there’s a lot of work, so we’re all about having fun community days and getting people involved,” Hare said.

In addition to the community volunteers and student involvement, several local businesses have also donated seeds for planting.

Hare and Hegler are currently working to organize a Paint Your Picket fundraising event which is set to take place from 3 - 6 p.m. on May 26.

Families or individuals interested in participating will pay $35 to paint a piece of the picket fence that will surround the garden, and the fund will go toward a tap and water hose.

“It’s essential we kind of get water right now. We don’t have access to water, so we’ve been taking between 30-50 gallons of water in our vehicles and hand-watering,” Hegler said.

Those interested in donating or volunteering can find The Giving Garden on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Belmont locals establish free community garden